No one can catch NYC's Kilgore in marathon

David Kilgore of New York City is seconds from finishing first at the Ashworth Awards Baystate Marathon on Sunday. SUN/CALEY McGUANE

LOWELL -- Personal issues kept David Kilgore from reaching his full potential as a Division 1 collegiate runner.

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But nothing got in his way at Sunday's 28th Ashworth Awards Baystate Marathon through the streets of Lowell, Chelmsford and Tyngsboro.

The 24-year-old, a native of Palm Bay, Fla., who now lives in New York City, cruised to a dominant victory in a time of 2:28:33.0. He was over 10 minutes faster than runner-up Christopher Battoo (2:38:39.4), of Boston, on a picturesque autumn morning.

"I've run a couple trail-type marathons and one smaller one back home, but this was my first larger one," said Kilgore. "My background is mainly track and cross country and I've kind of hopped up to the trails over the last year.

Kilgore started his college career at the University of Colorado, transferred to the University of Florida, and then spent some time at Oklahoma State University. He competed in a variety of events, including the 1,500 and the 10k.

He said he wasn't happy with how he was performing at Colorado and thought being closer to home would improve things.

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After that, Kilgore said he dealt with a mixed bag of unspecified personal issues and the passing of his stepfather. That all cut short his time at Oklahoma State, as he felt the need to be closer to his family and his mother.

"It was a pretty scattered experience," he said.

Kilgore now works as a coach for the New York Road Runners and as a personal trainer. He was encouraged to run the Baystate by his girlfriend, who is a native of Keene, N.H., attended Emmanuel College and works for Nike.

Jose Rivera of Webster gets the energy to leap across the finish line after a 1:33:46 half marathon. SUN/CALEY McGUANE

He certainly took advantage of the comfortable temperature and flat terrain.

"I thought the conditions were really good," Kilgore said. "Very cool morning, slightly chilly at the start. But perfect when it warmed up. It was a pretty fast course. I definitely wanted to try to contend, that's always a goal of mine. I love competing."

At mile 16, Kilgore led by six and a half minutes, and by mile 23 he had a seven-minute advantage.

The Baystate Half Marathon was a much closer race, with three teammates earning the top three spots.

Brighton's Ryan Woolley captured the victory in a time of 1:10:15.3. The 27-year-old, originally from New Zealand, is a member of the Greater Boston Track Club.

Having a prosthetic leg didn't stop Philip Gaffney of Pepperell from finishing the half marathon in 2:30:06. SUN/CALEY McGUANE

Woolley wasn't exactly thinking about a victory before the race, with the New York City Marathon just three weeks away. But he was able to put together an impressive mile pace of 5:22.

"You just have to take what you can get and run within your limits and run sensibly," he said. "I haven't been doing a lot of racing, so I don't have a current standard. I was quite happy with how I felt."

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